warriorsfanficfandomcom-20200213-history
Betrayer
Episode 8, Season 2 of War. Enjoy! Betrayer This is stupid, Badgerstrike thought. He stretched, nearly bumping into the paranoid looking tom who sat beside him. The black and white cat leapt to his paws and glared at him, trembling. Keeping his eyes on him, Badgerstrike cautiously sat back down. “Badgerstrike?” he looked up to see a cheery looking she-cat beaming at him, “Waterstar will see you now.” He followed her, wading through the other cats who were hopeful to receive an audience with the leader of WaterClan as well. Badgerstrike felt a small sense of sympathy, but he soon turned that towards himself as he entered Waterstar's quarters and was greeted with unfriendly eyes. “Badgerstrike,” the black she-cat barely dipped her head in greeting and he gritted his teeth, “Waterstar.” They had been...well, friends was quite a stretch. Back when she had been Darkthorn and he had been the deputy's apprentice, they had been uneasy friends. But when Badgerstrike began his friendship with Rowanfur, the FireClan leader's apprentice, and refused to give it up, even with a war brewing, Darkthorn- Waterstar- had cast him out of his deputyship in a fit of rage. Looking back on it, he supposed that he could have tried to befriend her, so she wouldn't be so lonely...or unstable. But what's done is done. “What do you report?” she meowed, almost...bored. “Well, for starters, it wasn't one fox. It was an entire pack.” Badgerstrike meowed, carefully. He would also have to reveal that they had allied themselves with a FireClan squad to get rid of the beasts. “Oh, really?” Waterstar did look genuinely surprised. “Yes. We also ran into some FireClan cats,” Careful... “We decided it would be better to ally ourselves for the time being to fight the foxes.” Waterstar whipped around, “Did you?” Badgerstrike narrowed his eyes, “They caught no prey and took nothing from our lands. All they did was fight.” Waterstar glared at him a second longer, then nodded coolly, “Well, I suppose it's better that your squad be mostly in one piece for the next mission.” Badgerstrike didn't point out that one of his warriors had a large stomach wound and his heart sank. Waterstar had that mad look in her eye she used to get when she would be about to kill a mouse. Gleeful, hungry, even a little sadistic. “I want you to go back to FireClan Main,” Waterstar meowed, “Finish off the job.” Badgerstrike sputtered, “Y-You mean...” “I want Firestar dead,” Waterstar growled, “And if you can kill any medicine cats or his deputy, that would be dandy too.” Badgerstrike blinked, “We already tried. They knew we were coming, their spies-” “Well I haven't told anyone this but you,” Waterstar meowed, “So if they do find out about it, I guess we know who our mole is, hrm?” Badgerstrike's claws slid out, but he shook his head, “What I mean is that if we go back there, it's a huge risk. We could all be killed.” Waterstar looked at him arrogantly, “One does not command an entire army of a Clan for nothing,” she said lightly, “If you fail, I have others.” Blood roared in Badgerstrike's ear and his heart pounded, but he knew. That's all she sees us as, warriors to be used one and thrown away. Waterstar looked at him, not even bothering to feign an air of innocence, “If you have a problem, that's unfortunate, but since you and your squad have the most knowledge of FireClan camp, it makes the most sense for you to go.” “What about Shadwsong and Gorsefur?” Badgerstrike protested, “What about-” “I'm not arguing about this!” Waterstar growled, “You and your squad will travel to FireClan camp and attempt to assassinate Firestar, again. Should you succeed, excellent. Should you fail, then I wouldn't bother coming back. Is there anything else you want?” Her eyes glinted dangerously. You're a monster and I hate you. “No,” he growled, stalking out. Once he was out of Main, traveling close to the FireClan border where he used to meet up with Rowanclaw, Badgerstrike allowed himself to drop the polite composure. “Who does she think she is,” he fumed. Rain thundered down around him and he hunched his shoulders. It would take days to travel back to where the others were still waiting. Days of Waterstar's smirk and impossible mission weighing down on him. Perfect. But Badgerstrike didn't believe in wallowing, so he sighed heavily and continued walking. The rain was misty, clearing his vision. He could smell nothing but water and hear nothing but thunder. He felt vulnerable and subconsciously sped up. Crack Was something in the woods beside him? He was near the border, but the patrols there really should have noticed any FireClan cats. War's made you stupid. FireClan cats aren't the only dangerous things running around in the woods. Badgerstrike weighed the ideas of standing and fighting and running. Then he rolled his eyes. He had probably just imagined the noise. He turned back to continue walking when the thud of heavy paws took him by surprise. He spun around, caws unsheathed in time to see a ginger cat fly at him. Badgerstrike's paws were up in time for him to block the brunt of the attacks, but the cat still knocked him down and pinned him. Badgerstrike dodged to the left, but almost as if the cat could tell what he was thinking, he mimicked. Badgerstrike growled and lunged forward, smacking the other cat in the jaw. He knocked the other tom away and rolled to his paws, crouching. The other tom had a paw hiding his face, against his jaw where Badgerstrike had hit him. “Nice shot,” he commented, almost conversationally. He dropped his paw and his bright eyes met Badgerstrike's, “Still could use some work on the whole 'not getting jumped by cats in the woods' thing though.” Badgerstrike straightened, completely wrong-footed, “What are you doing here?” he snarled. Rowafur met his eyes evenly, "Little cold for a get together, isn't that?" Badgerstrike lunged for the FireClan deputy, but the tom sidestepped. Badgerstrike growled, "Get off my territory, before I rip you to shreds, you gutless piece of-" "Why so hostile?" Rowanfur asked, smirking slightly. "Besides the fact I need all my toes to count how many times you've tried to kill me?" Badgerstrike meowed, fear and anger making him wordier then usual, "How about the fact you had two of my warriors tortured to spite me?" Rowanfur took a step back as if he'd been smacked, "You think that was me?" he looked almost...hurt. Badgerstrike shook off the old feelings of guilt and sympathy and maintained his position. "Yes, you. Who else would it be? And don't give me some dirt answer." Rowanfur blinked at him like he was an idiot, "Firestar." Badgerstrike opened his jaws, then closed them, rolling his eyes. "Look, what do you want?" "I want to talk to you," Badgerstrike shook his head, "Look, I'll give you a head start back to the border, good luck not getting caught though." He turned and started to walk away. "I miss you," Rowanfur called. Badgerstrike froze. When they were apprentices it had always been like they were night and day. Dark and thoughtful Badgerpaw, and fiery and mischevious Rowanfur, who would have rather had his claws ripped out then talk about his feelings. Which was why Badgerstrike turned. Rowanfur did look vulnerable. Almost pathetically so. "Look," the FireClan tom meowed, "FireClan is...stressful. There's no one to talk to beside Firestar, who's getting to be so old that half of what he says is gibberish and Sunstreak who basically hates me because Orangeblossom died before Firestar and I became deputy and she'll have to wait til he dies to become deputy and he'll probably die soon, if your squad doesn't go back and get him he'll just keel over." Badgerstrike blinked, then Rowanfur did, surprised with himself. "I still don't get what you want from me," Badgerstrike meowed faintly, "Do you want to join WaterClan?" the very idea was almost laughable, but Rowanfur looked desperate. "No, I want you to join FireClan," Badgerstrike snorted, "When hedgehogs fly." "Seriously!" Rowanfur blinked, "Look, I'm sorry about trying to kill you and stuff. I was upset, you just...left me. Alone." Badgerstrike winced and Rowanfur plowed on, "To be fair you did kill my mentor. And it's not like you didn't attack me a few times." "Okay," Badgerstrike shrugged, but he felt strange, "But that doesn't change the fact that WaterClan is my Clan." "But why should it be?" Rowanfur shook his pelt, ridding himself of a few droplets that had found the two toms under the trees. "Waterstar is terrible to you, you're disgraced..." Badgerstrike would have liked to believe on any other day he would have been able to tell Rowanfur to get out. But his meeting with Waterstar made him pause. Rowanfur was right. Rowanfur paused, "I just miss my best friend," he meowed, "Please think about it." The FireClan deputy turned and vanished into the storm, lightning lighting up his form before he vanished. Badgerstrike sank heavily down, his eyes wide. What in StarClan's name am I supposed to do? Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics Category:WFW1 Category:Action Category:Drama